Some of us, of a certain age, will remember the guy in 80s and early 90s who used to show up at every major sporting event dressed in ridiculous bright colors holding up a sign that simply said the reference, JOHN 3:16. He made that verse famous (or infamous, as the case may be). He also made it easy to ignore. One of the most beautiful truths of scripture became a publicity stunt and a brand.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We tend to believe we are either beyond the reach of God’s love because of our sins or sins committed against us, or we believe we are beyond needing God’s love because of our goodness. But God so loved the world that he went to the greatest length to show it to us.
We tend to believe that, even if God does love us, it is conditional so we need to earn the right to receive it. We need to get right enough or clean enough to be worthy of God’s love. But whoever believes in him will not perish. Christ invites us to simply believe–to give our hearts fully to him to be cleansed and restored and healed.
And he will grant us eternal life. This isn’t an impersonal, grandiose promise. It is a statement of perfect adoption; we will live forever as beloved children of God. And it isn’t a far-off future promise; life with Christ as God’s children begins the moment we first believe and grows in richness the more we believe. John 3:16 isn’t a brand or a slogan. It’s what we hang all our hopes on.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
